Macau Regulator Wants All Slot Machines To Feature Flashing Clock By 2024

Macau is the biggest gambling hub in the world and slot machines are right up there when it comes to the favorite past time for Asian gamblers. The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) which is the gaming regulator in Macau is looking to make changes to slot machine play in order to offer better protection to slot players.

Slot machines are referred to as Electronic Table Games (ETGs) or as Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) in Macau.

The top casinos in Macau have thousands of EGMs spread across their casino floor and you will find the majority of these machines are constantly busy as Asian gamblers love to keep spinning the reels on these EGMs.

The DICJ believes that a lot of players lose track of the time they are spending on these EGMs and decided that it is in the best interests of the players to get Macau’s casinos to include a flashing close on all EGMs.

The DICJ has rolled out a new Electronic Gaming Machine Technical Standards version 2.0 which make it mandatory for all Macau’s EGMs to feature this flashing clock. Version 2.0 came out on Sep 1 and gives Macau’s casinos time till 2024 to implement the flashing clock across all EGMs.

Macau had a total of 9871 EGMs at the end of June 30, 2021. EGM manufacturers will now have to build a flashing clock into all new EGMs and also works towards refitting existing EGMs with the flashing clock. Macau has given both EGM manufacturers and casino operators enough time to complete the implementation.

The flashing clock will be displayed in a 12 hour format and will feature in the lower right hand corner of the screen. The clock will flash once as soon as the player starts the machine and then flash every 10 minutes during that same playing session.

Will The Flashing Clock Have An Impact?

The flashing clock is being implemented to give players a reminder of the time they are spending per session at the EGM. Will the flashing clock have a positive impact and provide players with better protection? We will have to wait for a couple more years until we have enough EGMs with flashing clocks to collect data and notice if there is a big difference in the timeframe that a player spends between flashing and non-flashing EGMs.